What if?
by Proudbooklover
Summary: What if J.K Rowling carried on with her original pairing? What if someone made a move before Ron? What if Ron loved Hermione, but she fell for someone else? Sorry, bad at summaries! But it's my first one, so I promise to make better summaries later.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER- sadly, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

Hermione, Ron, Harry and the Weasley twins were sitting at the Griffindor table having lunch when Fred suddenly leaned across the table and whispered under his breath to Hermione "Hey, Hermione, can I have I word?" Hermione looked up and was surprised. Fred, for the first time in his life, looked underconfident, awkward and uncomfortable.  
"Yes, of course." Fred stood up, and with a look signalling for Hermione to follow, left the Hall. Hermione, bewildered, followed him out. But as she looked back at the table on her way out, she could of sworn she saw George smirking to himself. She saw Fred enter the unused broom cupboard just off the Hall. She again followed, her puzzlement and curiosity growing. Once inside, she found it a little on the small side and looked up at Fred, who still looked uncomfortable and as if he was building himself up to say something. Hermione decided to prompt him, wanting to leave the small broom cupboard and go back to lunch. "What did you want to say to me?"  
"Hermione... Can I ask you a personal question?" Fred blurted out. Hermione's curiosity was growing by the minute. What personal question could he ask her, and possibly not George? But there was a sort of pleading, needing look on his face so she replied,

"Sure, what is it?" And then suddenly his lips were pressed firmly against hers, his red hair the only thing she could see, and a burst of happiness, a feeling of bliss spreading through her until he quickly pulled away. When she looked up at him, his face was as red as his hair and Hermione could feel her face heating up too. They stared at each other for a second, but it seemed like an hour, until Hermione found her voice again. "Fred... Why... How...?" And he started shifting about and dropped his gaze.

"I... I really like you Hermione... It um... started a while ago really... I just had to see... If you feel the same..." He finally looked up, and was surprised to see Hermione smiling at him.  
"Yes, Fred. I do" And she was glad to see his cocky smile return, the smile she was so used to seeing on him. And as he kissed her again, the cupboard no longer felt small and all thoughts of lunch were forgotten.

(A/N, I know it's short, but it's my first one. I will try to make the other chapters longer. All reviews are welcomed, especially constructive criticism ones. Thanks!)


	2. Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Ron and Harry were getting anxious as Hermione and Fred still hadn't turned up and they were going to be late for History of Magic. "George, do you know what any of that was about?" Ron demanded. Harry turned round, thinking he was at least going to get a straight answer out of George. 'Maybe he just needed help with something' he thought to himself, but somehow not believing it. But instead of telling them anything, George simply smirked, a smirk that told you he knew everything that you didn't and wasn't going to let on.

"Yeah, but you'll find out soon enough." And with that, he walked out of the rapidly emptying hall to class. An infuriated yet intrigued Ron and Harry followed soon after, thinking that Hermione would probably have beat them to class, as she's never usually late to any subject, no matter what the circumstance may be. But after arriving to class, late, but Professor Binns never notices anyway, and glancing at the door every five minutes, waiting for Hermione to walk through it, until the end of the lesson, she never showed. Harry looked at Ron and read from his expression he felt exactly how he himself felt: worried. What could have gone so wrong that it stopped Hermione from getting to class?

However, nothing had gone wrong at all. Hermione and Fred were still in the cupboard, chatting as if they had never met before, until Hermione glanced at her watch, gasped loudly and jumped up, realizing that lunch was over and class was in progress. She gasped so loud she startled Fred, who jumped and almost fell off the upturned bucket he was perched on. "What's wrong?" he asked whilst trying to get comfortable on the bucket again.

"Class has started!" she wailed "I'm supposed to be in History of Magic, Ron and Harry are probably wondering what's happened, they might think it's something horrible, oh Merlin what am I-" she was suddenly cut off by Fred who pulled her down onto his knee and kissed her full on the mouth. Hermione lost thought of what she was saying, until she remembered a few seconds later and reluctantly pulled away. "I need to get to class, Fred, and as a matter of fact so do you!" But instead of getting up or letting go of her, he pulled her closer to him, a sly grin on his face.

"I actually don't need to go anywhere because I have a free period. And class is half over by now, so there's no point going, really. We can just stay here."

Hermione considered it for a moment. On one hand, she felt guilty as staying there with Fred would increase the worry Harry and Ron were probably already feeling, and she would be skipping class. But on the other hand, Fred did have a point. Class was half over, so going in now would make no sense because she wouldn't be able to follow what Professor Binns would be saying. Plus, there in the cupboard, she was with Fred... "I guess you're right. I've skipped half of class anyway, why not skip it all?" she voiced aloud.

"Skipping class, Miss Granger! That's not very like you! Have I really been that bad an influence already?" he said, smirking as he said it so she would know he was joking around. "We can't have that, not-" This time it was Hermione who shut him up with a kiss.

"Yes, yes you have" she said quietly, staring into those wonderful, shining eyes that always sparkled with mischief.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters, as much as I would love to!

Harry and Ron got a shock as they headed to the common room after class. Hermione came bounding up the stairs behind them shouting for them to wait. As they looked at her, they saw she was positively glowing and looked carefree and content, not at all like they thought she would after not turning up to class. Harry couldn't help himself. When she reached him, he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Um, Harry... Why are you hugging me?"

He quickly pulled away, going a bit pink as he realised Fred was watching from halfway down the staircase, looking uncharacteristically stoney faced.

"We thought something awful had happened to you!" Harry said, slightly relieved that it wasn't true.

"Yeah," Ron stepped in. "First you didn't come back to lunch, then you didn't turn up to class... And what did Fred want anyway?"

"Oh yeah," remembered Harry "we asked George, but all he said was 'you'll find out soon enough' really mysteriously and then left. What was that about?" Harry then noticed a few things. Being a Seeker, he had good sight for small details. One; Hermione turned quite pink, two; Fred suddenly sped past them and climbed through the portrait hole and three; Hermione started tucking her hair repeatedly behind her ear, something she only does when she's extremely nervous. All of this he took in in a couple of seconds, but it was enough to make him suspicious.

"Well, I'm not sure what George was on about, but Fred just needs help with some school work so i'm going to be helping him. And we just lost track of time so I didn't think there was any point coming to class 20 minutes late so I went to the library." she said in a rush. She and Fred agreed on this story beforehand, wanting to keep their relationship secret for now so as not to make things weird between them all. This way they could spend time together, and have Hermione do his homework, without anyone, hopefully, becoming suspicious. The only downfall was that Hermione wasn't the best liar, and she was sure either Harry or Ron would question the liability of this story. Ron seemed to buy it OK and turned to enter the common room, but she wasn't sure if Harry did. He raised an eyebrow, making her go redder, but thankfully left it and turned to follow Ron. She inwardly breathed a sigh of relief; the hardest part was over. When she too entered the common room, she caught Fred's eye and nodded slightly, smiling, the sign to show they bought it. He smiled back before walking to the other end of the room to the window where George sat. He was leaning back on his chair, arms behind his head, smirking at Fred as he sat down opposite him. "So," he started, looking somewhat amused, "what did you get up to at lunch?"

"You know exactly what!" Fred said, aiming a kick under the table at George but missing.

"She said yes then?"

"Um, well," Fred said hesitantly, looking slightly uncomfortable "I didn't exactly ask her the question as such." George only raised his eyebrows in response so Fred went on to explain "I sort of froze up and the words got stuck so I, um, may have kissed her rather than asked the question." he looked at George, expecting a witty remark or teasing comment but instead found him looking hard into his eyes. "I thought so. I can see it." he said seriously. He then looked out the window once, announced he was going to bed and left to the dormitories.

Again, reviews are totally welcome! And if you like it, please show your love by maybe favourite/ follow the story? Thanks to the people who have done so already, my heart melts to you! (Soppy, I know, but authors need love too!)


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

Over the next couple of weeks, whenever they both had a free period, or free time at lunch, or even a few hours after dinner, Hermione and Fred met up in the library without fail. As everyone thought they were studying, they did, and Fred's grades greatly improved because of it, which added to the illusion of Hermione tutoring him. But whenever they could, they snuck out, either through the secret passageway to Hogsmead or to out of sight places in the grounds that Fred assured her only he and George knew about. But while they were content and happy, the others were not. Even though they still hadn't come out about their relationship, the friends could tell something was up and that they weren't in on it. It was on one of the evenings Fred and Hermione were outside in the school grounds that Harry voiced what all three of them were thinking. "Do either of you two know what's happening with Hermione and Fred?" He had his own suspicions, but wanted to see what the others thought before he decided that his suspicions were correct.

"No, actually. But I feel we're missing something or they're hiding something from us." Ron mused. But when Harry turned to George to ask his take on it, he found him staring intently at the fire. Ron saw too and in the moment they locked eyes they shared the same conclusion; George knew something they didn't about Fred and Hermione, and looked as though he could crack. "George?" Ron asked, a hint of impatience traceable in his voice.

"Wow, it's late. Well, I'm off to bed, I'll see you two tomorrow. G'night." said George shortly and he sped off up the stairs. Harry decided to tell Ron his suspicions as George clearly wasn't going to be any help.

"With Fred and Hermione... You don't think they're, um... Together, do you?" he asked hesitantly.

"No. Can't be. I mean, neither of them have said anything like that... No. It's not possible." Ron rambled, a little louder than Harry thought he realised. Inside Harry hid a smile. It could be perfectly possible in his opinion, but Ron just happened to have a mad crush on Hermione. But he did also feel a little hurt. If Hermione was with Fred, she hadn't even told him, which made him question how close he actually was to her. 'I thought we were like brother and sister. I thought we could tell each other anything.' he thought. But then again, she wasn't Ron. He didn't know everything about her and she in turn didn't know everything about him. 'I guess I'll just have to find out for myself. I will find out, in time' he thought determinedly.

Sorry for the short chapter, the next one will be longer and more interesting, I swear! Thanks to the people who have reviewed/ favourited/ followed the story, it means so much!


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. *sigh*

But it was still quite a few weeks later until they all found out for sure. George still blames himself, even now, but it wasn't all his fault. Not really.

Hermione was walking down the corridor after dinner to the library to meet Fred, when she felt hands round her waist dragging her backwards through the door to the old Transfiguration classroom. A hand let go of her to shut the door before she felt lips brush by her ear and a voice whisper,

"Guess who?" She smiled before slowly turning around to look up into that mischievous, freckled face she loved, and was now so used to seeing, and said,

"I knew it was you, Fred." But when he leant in to kiss her she put a finger on his lips to stop him. He seemed amused rather than annoyed so she went on to say, "Shouldn't we be studying in the library? I was going there now to meet you in fact."

"I know you were," he said smiling. "Oh, how I would love to go do some hard core studying. But we can't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's our day off. Besides, you're trapped here with me, and even if you somehow manage to get away, perhaps through the unlocked door we came through, who would you go tutor if I'm here?" he asked in mock concern. Hermione laughed, but suddenly a shadow passed over her face. Fred noticed the change and automatically turned serious. "What's wrong? What's happened? I haven't done anything, have I?" he asked, panicking slightly. She looked up and saw his fear, and instantly felt guilty.

"Oh no, you haven't done anything. It's nothing like that. It's just... I still feel bad about not telling at least Harry and Ron." She'd been thinking about it a lot the past few days and every time she did, she felt a pang of guilt and betrayal. "I mean, we've been going out for a while now, and whilst I think it was okay at the beginning, I feel bad whenever I think about it now. Anyway, I think Harry knows, or strongly suspects, and he's turned a little colder towards me. I think he thought that I would have at least told him, and maybe thinks that I don't trust him. And Ron's just been acting... Weird." She said all of this very fast so it took a couple of moments for Fred to understand.

"I've been thinking the same thing too lately, and I think you're right about Harry. But as for Ron," at this he smirked, "he's acting weird because he has a major crush on you."

"Oh!" Hermione exclamed. She was so shocked she didn't register at first that Fred was speaking again.

"-one of the reasons why it would be hard telling them. But we will soon, I promise. Today or tomorrow, if you like." Satisfied with this, Hermione looked up into his face and saw a look of adoration flicker across it before he leaned in again, and this time she didn't protest.

They had in fact been spot on about Harry and Ron's feelings, but they forgot to mention one important person: George. Because as the months passed by since the start of Fred and Hermione's relationship, he was finding it harder and harder to keep their secret. And because Fred was spending more and more time with Hermione, he was spending less and less time with George. And he hated it. Oh, he pretented to be fine with it when Fred kept apologizing about it, and he was, honestly, quite interested in how the relationship was going, Fred's feelings, thoughts, doubts, and worries about it but he also saw it was changing him. He was no longer taking as much interest in the experiments and ideas for the joke shop, they didn't play as many pranks as they used to, they were no longer the same intelligence as Hermione had been teaching Fred and Fred was starting to become a lot more interested in his subjects and lessons. He felt as though he was losing him. And so he started to feel resentful, and spiteful, and although he would never brake a promise to his twin knowingly or directly, no matter what, hate can do shameful things that we can later regret.

It was an unfortunate coincidence that whilst Fred and Hermione were starting their 'day off' from studying that Harry and Ron went to the library to find them. They searched the whole library and couldn't see them, and they both found it quite strange. "We saw Hermione leave the common room to go to the library and say she was going to tutor Fred, didn't we?" a puzzled Ron asked. Harry was about to reply until someone marched straight into him and Ron.

"Oh sorry, Harry, Ron, didn't see you." George said, but you could tell he was someplace else, and that other place didn't look like a nice place to be.

"What's wrong with you, George?" asked Ron, a bit ruder than normal. His shoulder obviously hurt from George bashing into him. At his words, George suddenly came back to reality and for the first time in his life, Harry was afraid of him. The look on his face was of murderous rage, and he looked dangerous. Now, George would never of said what he is about to say if he hadn't just witnessed the scene he did a few seconds ago. For George had just walked in on Hermione and Fred in the old Transfiguration classroom. And he saw them wrapped together, glued mouth to mouth. But that wasn't what had bothered him the most. They realized his presence and pulled apart, Hermione looking embarrassed. But as Fred pulled away, he flashed George a look of pure loathing. I don't think Fred knew he was doing it. He loved George. He was his other self. But George thought he was concious of it, and it made matters worse that Fred looked at Hermione straight after. And it felt like a knife to the chest the way Fred looked at her. He looked at her with an expression of such love, adoration and desire that George instantly thought he was replaced. He thought he was now second best, and was never again going to be first. Even when Fred looked back to him and smiled, slightly embarrassed too, and George gave his usual cocky smile back and closed the door, all he felt was a cold freeze spreading through his body from the place his heart was.

So when Ron asked him what was wrong, he thought of the most spiteful thing he could think of to hurt Fred. And so he replied,

"Oh, nothing. And if you're looking for Fred and Hermione, they're just studying in the old Transfiguration classroom. Don't ask me why, because I really haven't a clue."

"Oh. Thanks George. We were looking for those two actually. See you in the common room." Harry replied as George walked away. "Lets go quickly. I'm so tired I can't be bothered to do any homework." he told Ron, and as Ron agreed they went to the old Transfiguration classroom and opened the door... And found out what Harry suspected all along. Hermione and Fred weren't just study partners.

Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope this chapter was a little more interesting, please let me know your thoughts on it. A little trouble coming soon... (Ron sure wont be happy...)


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER- As much as I would love to, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. *sigh*

They were so close together you couldn't tell where one started and the other began. But strangely, Harry felt okay about it, even happy for them, because they looked so happy to be with each other. And looked like they belonged together. Not just belonging together like normal boyfriend and girlfriend, but spiritually belonging together. They were soul mates. Of course he was even more hurt, now he knew the truth, about Hermione not telling him but he forgave her a little. However, when he looked at Ron he knew a different story was going through his mind. And, oh, how different it was. Ron felt betrayed, hurt and angry at seeing them together. How could his own brother do this to him! 'Fred knew I loved Hermione, yet here he is, snogging her face off! And Hermione. I thought we were all best friends, yet here she is, kissing my older brother. How could they! I would of thought she would of at least told Harry, who would of definitely told me... Wait! Did he know about this too and not tell me? That two faced...' But when Ron turned to interrogate Harry about any knowledge of this, he found a look of genuine surprise on his face that he couldn't act or fake. Fred and Hermione suddenly realised they had company because they pulled apart fast and, once they noticed who their company was, they both turned deathly pale. There was a long, awkward silence that was broken abruptly by Ron swinging his fist right into the side of Fred's face, busting his lip and bruising his jaw. Fred in turn gave Ron a punch that would give him a brilliant black eye in the morning. Harry started forward to stop anything else from happening, but Hermione beat him to it. She jumped in between the two and put a hand on each chest, pushing them apart. While Fred lowered his raised fist, Ron just pulled away to stand next to Harry in the doorway, fists still clenched by his sides. "How could you guys! Fred- my brother- and Hermione- how- why-" he stuttered, so angry he couldn't get out proper sentences. "Lying to us!" he suddenly spat out. Fred was no longer pale. His face was furious, but Harry had a feeling it wasn't all for Ron. He certainly looked as though he could fight Ron though and Harry saw the only thing holding him back was Hermione'shand, which remained on his chest.

"Ron-" Hermione pleaded but it was no use. Ron marched straight back out the room, his fury scaring a few passing first years. Harry turned to follow, but Hermione caught the sleeve of his robe. "Harry- please- I wanted to tell- I just-" But at the 'I wanted' Harry remembered his pain at not being told and felt a fresh wave wash over him, cold as ice. "If you wanted to, what stopped you?" he asked coldly, before pulling out of Hermione's grasp and following Ron up to the common room.

The tears were flowing down her face as Harry left. She thought he at least would understand... She made no attempt to stop them or dry her eyes, she just stared at the empty doorway until she couldn't stand it anymore and slammed the door shut with a bang. Then Hermione collapsed into a near by chair and sobbed her heart out, her head in her hands. It was at the sound of Hermione sobbing as if her heart would break that brought Fred back to the present and he realised that Hermione was no longer in front of him with her hand on his chest, and was in fact on the chair behind him. "Hey, shush, come here, look at me," he said soothingly, kneeling down in front of her and cupping her chin in his hand, forcing their eyes to meet. "It'll be okay, you'll see. They'll come around."

"No they wont!" she wailed. "Did you see the way they looked at me? I expected it a little from Ron, but Harry...? They hate me!"

"No, they don't hate you! They love you! They're just in shock. I mean, Ron would never start a fight with me unless he was in shock!" he said, to try and make Hermione smile. But all it did was make her more worried. 'At least she's not crying anymore' he thought.

"Oh Fred, look at what he did to you! Come here" she tried to drab at the blood running down Fred's face, but when she accidentally dabbed his jaw he winced and recoiled slightly in pain. "I'm sorry, Fred!" she squealed. "Oh Fred, I think it's broken!"

"At least I gave him a good black eye" he said savagely. Hermione suddenly became stern.

"Just because he puched you didn't mean you had to hit him back"

"But-"

"No, Fred. You're a lot stronger than he is." She then sighed. "Fred, what are we going to do?" Fred looked at her, and that was the first time he realised what she truly was: a warrior. She wasn't a pretty princess, she wasn't the type of girl who cries for days on end or someone who needs to be carried back up. She could pull herself back up, could slay any demon, and even when times seemed darkest she kept on going. She was strong. She was brave. She wasn't sorted into Griffindor for nothing. And he loved her even more for it.

(A/N- a little more action, yeah? Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to review, it means a lot to me. As does the people who follow/ favorite the story, thank you ! You're all awesome, let me know if you liked it!)


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

As they both headed slowly back to the common room, Fred voiced what had been troubling him ever since Harry and Ron burst in on them. "How did they know we were in there?"

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Harry and Ron. How did they know we were in the old Transfiguration classroom? Because they can't of seen us go in, we didn't leave, and the only person who saw us was George who..." he trailed off, the puzzle pieces coming together in his head. Hermione realised what he was thinking, and bust out

"No! He wouldn't!" and then a little more uncertainly "Would he?" Fred stopped dead in his tracks, his expression turning sour.

"Oh yes he would." He went on to explain "For the last few weeks now, he's been jealous of you. I've been spending so much time with you that I usually would of spent with him. He thinks he's second best. I've only just noticed it recently. I've been asking him if he's okay with me spending a lot of time with you, and I've been apologizing over and over, but I realise now he regrets giving me advice and encouragement to ask you out. Merlin, I've been so stupid! It's all my fault! I've been pushing him away, and now that's led to you losing Ron and Harry and it's my fault!" The last sentences turned into a bit of a wail, before he bolted through an open classroom door and slammed it shut behind him.

"Fred?" she called quietly. She could hear him crying on the other side.

"Why are you still here Hermione? I've caused you more pain than relief. It's my fault, all of it! Why don't you leave? Harry and Ron will make up with you if they knew you left me. Please..." Fred pleaded to her through the closed door between sobs.

"Fred, let me in."

"No! You can't see me like this! I'm supposed to be the strong one, the one that comforts you!" Something in Hermione snapped at this. She hated this sort of stereotypical thinking, and her next words were laced with danger.

"Fred, you open this door right now." she said calmly but you could tell it wasn't going to be pretty if you said no. Slowly the door creaked open to reveal Fred sat on the floor with his arms round his legs and his face hidden between his knees. She closed the door and sat down quietly next to him while he cried. And she sat there patiently, waiting, until he stopped crying and looked up. His eyes were red and puffy, there was dried blood on his lip and face and a good sized bruise starting to show by his jaw. To her, he was as beautiful as ever. The only thing she hated about his appearance at that moment were his eyes themselves. They were so full of misery and despire she couldn't stand it. Gone was that mischievous twinkle and merriness about them. The spark of fun had been extinguished and in its place she saw hopelessness. So she put her arms round him, cradled him like a mother would a child, and as he lay his head on her chest she kissed the top of his head and whispered "Why can't it be the other way round?"

Climbing through the portrait hole, Hermione and Fred spotted Harry and Ron in the usual place by the fire. Ron looked up, saw them, and said something to Harry before storming up the stairs to the boys dormitories. Fred left, telling Hermione he was going to talk to George. There wasn't very many people left in the common room. She saw Harry packing up his books so she quickly walked over to his chair, and seeing that he had stopped packing up his things she sat down in the chair next to him. An awkward silence followed, until Hermione broke it by saying a timid "hi". Harry sighed and sank back into his armchair, rubbing his eyes.

"So. You and Fred? When did that happen?" he asked, sounding exhausted.

"A few months back. When he asked me to follow him out of lunch." she said quietly. A tense silence followed before she burst out "Harry, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you! We just thought it would be better as a secret for a while, and we were going to tell you today, actually, we were talking about it before you and Ron... And now Ron hates me, Fred and George are fighting, you're really mad at me-" Hermione said, tears trickling down her cheeks before Harry cut her off.

"I'm not mad at you, Hermione." he sighed. He looked at her shocked expression mingled with doubt. "Honest, Hermione, I'm not. Yes I was shocked at first, and a little hurt, but I'm not mad." Suddenly a brown frizz of hair blocked his view as Hermione threw herself on him, hugging him and sobbing quietly onto his shoulder. He patted her awkwardly on the back until she pulled away and sank down on the floor in front of the fire.

"Thank you! How can I even say sorry enough?"

"Well, do my potions essay and we'll call it even" Harry yawned. Hermione jumped straight up and started rummaging through his bag at top speed. "Hermione, I didn't mean right now!" he protested.

"No, it's fine, I did this days ago, I can't believe you left it until last minute again!" she replied. Harry smiled. 'Hermione's back.' he thought happily. However, his happiness didn't last very long.

There were shouts, thuds and screams from above. Lee Jordan came running down. "It's Fred and George! They're fighting and we can't break it up! Someone get Professor McGonnagal!" A couple of third years hurried out of the portrait hole whilst everyone who had come to see what the noise was went running to the bottom of the stairs to the boys rooms. They didn't get far, as Fred and George came tumbling down the stairs, hexing, jinxsing and, whenever they got close enough, punching each other. Both of them had blood splattered on them, and various things sprouting, emerging and attacking them from spells they had cast at each other, some of them missing and catching other students. Hermione, thinking on her feet, shouted "Pertrificus totallus!" hitting George in the stomach, and then again to Fred, hitting him square in the back. He fell over next to his twin. Just at that moment, Professor McGonnagal climbed through the portrait hole. The common room was silent apart from the moans of the unfortunate students who'd got hit with misfired spells. "Someone take the injured to the hospital. Say that I sent you" she ordered, noticing the hurt. When they had left, she rounded on them all. "What on earth was going on in here?!" she raged. When no one gave any reply apart from looking down at the floor, she at last noticed the twins. She grasped the situation immediately and undid Hermione's spell, and as the twins jumped up, she cast a shield spell in between them, which Harry thought was a very good idea as Fred and George looked like they were about to murder each other.

"Look at the state of you two! I can't believe it! I don't think I've been more ashamed of two members of my house! And not only did you harm each other in your little fight, you also caught some innocent Griffindors! What do you have to say for yourselves?!" McGonnagal yelled, outraged. When neither twin answered she said briskly "Right, you two, my office. Now. And you, Mr Potter and Miss Granger. The rest of you, off to bed. Go." and she climbed back out the portrait hole, the four of them following in her wake.

Thank you again to everyone who reviews! It makes me feel so loved! Anyway, more to come, with a Molly Weasley making an entrance later...


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER- Sadly, I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.

No one said a word until they were stood in front of Professor McGonnagal's desk, looking into her furious face. "Explain yourselves!" she demanded. The twins were mute, so she turned to Hermione.

"Harry and I aren't really sure, Professor. We were just in the common room when someone shouted that Fred and George were fighting and then they fell downstairs into the common room." she said hesitantly.

"I'm guessing that was your charm they were hit with, then?"

Hermione nodded. "Well, Miss Granger, that was quick thinking, but are you sure you don't know anything more?"

"Professor, she's telling the truth. She doesn't know about any of it, neither does Harry. It was all us." Fred said loudly.

"So you've decided to speak at last. You can tell me what happened then." McGonnagal turned to him. He opened his mouth, tried to say something, then closed it again, looking at the floor. Then Harry piped up. "Um... Fred? Was it about the thing that happened before? Earlier today?" he started hesitantly. When Fred nodded but didn't say anything more, McGonnagal lost her temper.

"Someone better tell me what's going on here before you all get detentions for a month!" Fred caught sight of the look on Hermione's face when she mentioned a months worth of detentions and spoke up, knowing it wasn't fair on the other two to be punished for what he and George had done. "Professor, don't! None of it was their fault. It was just me and George. Don't punish them!"

"Ok, Mr Weasley, if you care to explain."

"Um... Well, Professor, Hermione and I have um... Been going out in secret for the past few months. Only George knew, and he... Um..." he trailed off slightly, because deep down he was still loyal to his brother, and honestly didn't want him to get into trouble, but he couldn't stop now. "He walked in on me and Hermione today in a classroom- anyway, he told Harry and Ron where we were and they... Um... Found out. I tried to talk to George just before, but... You kinda saw what happened..." he mumbled to the floor.

"Do you have anything to say, Mr Weasley?" Professor McGonnagal asked George, who stood still and silent as a statue. "Well! If that's the truth then Mr Potter and Miss Granger can go." She then turned on the twins "You two both lose 30 points for Griffindor each and you both get a weeks worth of detentions, starting eight o'clock tomorrow night, my office. You can all go." As soon as they left the room George stormed past them, not saying a word. There was an awkward silence between the three of them that wasn't broken until Harry said "Well, I'm off to bed. See you guys tomorrow" and sped off to Griffindor tower.

"How did Harry take it?" Fred asked Hermione when they had set off, more slowly.

"Good actually. He's okay with it, really. I think he's the only one though."

"Well, I've got a weeks worth of detentions with a brother who wont even look at me, so that should be fun." Fred said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Fred. But you did kind of bring it upon yourselves."

"Hermione! I didn't start fighting for no reason! He started it, really, and I had to protect myself, didn't I?" he protested. When Hermione made a scathing noise, he continued "And he said some pretty nasty stuff that I would prefer not to repeat" he added darkly.

"You could owl your mother?" Hermione suggested. "She would sort everything out."

"Yeah, with a dozen Howlers," Fred snorted. "I'd rather take the detentions."

Back in the dormitories, Harry saw Ron lying awake in bed, waiting to hear what had happened in McGonnagal's office. Harry told him whilst getting undressed and climbing into his four poster. There was a pause after he had finished, in which Harry asked "Why do you hate them being together so much, Ron?"

"Because she's our friend and he's my bloody brother, that's why!" Ron practically exploded. "It's weird! It'd be like you going out with Ginny!" They didn't talk for much longer after that, both being exhausted, but Harry's mind was still buzzing when he fell into a light, disturbed and restless sleep.

The summer holidays came speeding round the corner and suddenly Harry was saying goodbye to his friends at Kings Cross to go spend more quality time with the Dursley's. "I'll send you an owl to get you over at ours as soon as I can!" Ron called after him.

"I'll look forward to it!" Harry shouted back. As he wandered over to his uncle he wondered if summer at the Burrow might clear the air between everyone. George and Fred still weren't talking, Ron wasn't speaking to Fred either and him and Hermione were still a bit edgy, but at least Ron stayed in the same room as her now. 'I wonder what Mrs Weasley is going to say when she hears about everything that's happened?' he thought, and instantly felt sorry for whoever was going to be on the other end of that conversation.

Harry only had to endure two weeks of the Dursley's before Ron and the Weasley family rescued him and took him back to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. As soon as he got there, Mrs Weasley started piling his plate with food, commenting on how thin he was. He soon realised Mrs Weasley had sorted the situation because everyone was talking to one an another, no matter how grudgingly it was. Ron filled him in.

"It was awful! She realised something was wrong straight away and forced it out of us. She could of blown the roof off from all the shouting she was doing!" Hermione arrived a few days later, and also grasped that the situation had been handled and suddenly became a lot happier. They played a lot of Quiddich, had fantastic food and in Hermione's case, read a lot of books. But then something happened that tested their newly formed alliance.

Hermione was in Ginny's bedroom that they were sharing whilst the rest of them were outside playing Quiddich. She had started reading one of her new school books and was so absorbed in it that she literally jumped when there was a knock at the door. "Come in" she called from the bed. Fred poked his head round the door. He had come back before the others to check on Hermione. He plonked himself down next to her on the bed and leaned in to kiss her when his head was pushed back. "One second, Fred, I need to finish this page." she said, not taking her eyes off the book. So he sat there, smiling at her, until she put the book down. She caught him grinning. "What?"

"Nothing" he replied, and still smiling he lent down again to kiss her. She felt the usual happiness spread through her, and she ran her fingers through his bright red hair, pulling him closer. He kissed her more fiercely, and she fell backwards onto the bed, his body pressed firmly on top of hers, and she kissed him back passionately, until- BAM! The door flew open, revealing Ron standing in the doorway. To make matters worse, George came down the stairs behind Ron and looked in to see his brother lying on top of Hermione. He opened his mouth to say something, but choked on the words and stormed down the stairs. Ron was staring at them, open mouthed. "Ron," Fred found his voice "this isn't what it looks like" he started but Ron stopped him.

"Tea's ready." he said tightly, before rushing back down the stairs. Fred cursed.

"We'd better go" said Hermione shortly, pushing Fred off her and running down the stairs too. Fred followed a few seconds after, grumbling "No privacy, honestly..."

Tea was very awkward, as neither Fred, Ron, Hermione or George made eye contact with each other, whereas Ginny and Harry, not knowing what had happened, raised eyebrows at each other and carried on eating in silence. Ginny was the one to get it out of a blushing Hermione that night. "So I may have just made everything worse" she finished.

"D'you know what? I don't think you did. Sure, you made it bad for the next two, three days, but it will get them used to seeing you two as actual boyfriend/ girlfriend." Ginny mused. Hermione thought this over, before slipping off to sleep.

Thanks to everyone who has followed this story and given support, I'm really grateful! It's almost finished, just a little bit of Malfoy to come... 6


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER- I don't own any Harry Potter characters.

And then suddenly it was back to the mad rush of packing everything in their trunks and driving to the station to board the Hogwarts Express. Fred made a wise decision whilst boarding the train: he asked George whether they should go find Lee Jordan and hang in a compartment with him. George said yes immediately. In that moment he forgave Fred, because he knew he was trying to make amends by hanging out with him. Hermione smiled at them. She knew Fred had missed his brother, and was finally trying to make things better. Harry, Ron and Ginny slid into an empty compartment and George started off up the corridor. Fred kissed Hermione unexpectedly on the cheek before hurrying off after his twin, leaving Hermione blushing as she entered the compartment. She sat down next to Ron, who whispered quietly when everyone was distracted by Neville and Luna coming in "I'm not mad anymore you know. Just please keep the snogging to a minimal whilst I'm around? It's still weird." Hermione laughed and Ron grinned, and it finally seemed like it was all back to the way it should be. But their balloon of happiness was popped when something unwelcome entered their compartment. That something was Draco Malfoy, with his usual cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, stood behind him. "So. Are the rumors true?" he smirked. "Can't you just piss off and leave us alone, Malfoy?" Ron asked wearily.

"I was just coming to see if it was true that mudblood here was going out with your brother, Weaslby" he drawled, enjoying the atmospheric change of calling Hermione 'mudblood'. Ron and Harry jumped up, and to their surprise, so did Hermione.

"Go away, Malfoy" Harry said.

"Make me" said Malfoy, enjoying their anger at him. Then Hermione spoke up, surprising everyone in the compartment.

"I've done it once before Malfoy, don't make me do it again" she threatened, raising her hand. Harry and Ron remembered with pleasure the time when they were in their third year, and Hermione slapped Malfoy right across the face for insulting Hagrid. A flicker of fear crossed Malfoy's face before he hastily covered it up with a sneer. "Really, Granger? You'll slap me? Ha!"

"Oh no! Not slap you" she said sweetly, right before punching him, hard, in the face and breaking his nose in the process. "I learned that off my new boyfriend, Malfoy, now leave us alone." she said, slamming the doors shut in his face. She turned around to find everyone laughing and applauding her. She grinned and sat back down, and for some reason, Malfoy left them in peace for the rest of the train journey.

They didn't see the twins again until the feast, and there wasn't much time for talking amongst the wolfing down of food. But when they were sat in the common room afterwards, Harry, Ginny and Ron gave the twins a full account of what happened with Malfoy on the train, sending them all back into fits of uncontrolable laughter. And with their laughter, the rift between them all dissolved, making them whole again.

I know it's very very short, but I didn't think it fit in with the last chapter. This is the end, and thank you for all your support throughout. I'm working on a new story, trying out some unusual ships. Please let me know if you enjoyed the story, I had fun writing it! Byeeee!


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